Why anyone would want to trade Bass, who is a reasonable player on a reasonable contract -- even given his current slump -- is beyond me.

Because he's a poor rebounder, a weak-to-mediocre defender and a limited offensive player with a rapidly improving rookie behind him looking like a better fit as a 5th starter (Sully's a much superior rebounder, progressing into a comparable defender, and offers a broader offensive skillset).

Makes sense to me.

Agreed. And assuming that Wilcox gets healthy and that Bass can land us a center (though I'm very skeptical about that), there's no reason that a Sully/Wilcox PF rotation (with a sprinkling of Green) can't do quite well.

And I'd also add that for a guy who will likely be relegated to the backup 4 spot (or at least backup minutes, even if he starts) sooner rather than later, the 6+ million dollars he makes each of the next 3 years isn't that great, especially when we Wilcox at the minimum who could easily fill the role.

Keep in mind that if you trade Bass and somehow wind up with a legit starting center, then that moves KG back to the PF spot and Sully back to the bench. I don't think this improves our team.

The issue isn't so much who starts as the quality of the available big man pairings. Our 2nd & 3rd best bigs are both defensively challenged 4s, and Collins is the only healthy veteran center on the team other than KG. This puts us in the bind of having to play KG huge minutes, play Collins or put up with Sully/Bass for extended stretches.

It doesn't really matter who starts as long as Doc keeps a capable 5 on the floor as much as possible. That will help the team (and Sully). Now if Doc is an idiot and only plays his 5s (KG + hypothetical new 5) together, while leaving Sully as the 5 alongside another small guy at 4 with the bench, then we have a problem, but Doc isn't an idiot (the bizarre extension of the Collins starting experiment notwithstanding).

Why anyone would want to trade Bass, who is a reasonable player on a reasonable contract -- even given his current slump -- is beyond me.

Because he's a poor rebounder, a weak-to-mediocre defender and a limited offensive player with a rapidly improving rookie behind him looking like a better fit as a 5th starter (Sully's a much superior rebounder, progressing into a comparable defender, and offers a broader offensive skillset).

Makes sense to me.

Sully should continue to come off the bench, in part due to his foul rate. But I'd certainly prefer to see a better player starting in the frontcourt than Bass.

I can't see the Suns being interested in any package for Gortat built around Bass, no matter how many picks / cash get thrown... which sucks.

Why anyone would want to trade Bass, who is a reasonable player on a reasonable contract -- even given his current slump -- is beyond me.

Because he's a poor rebounder, a weak-to-mediocre defender and a limited offensive player with a rapidly improving rookie behind him looking like a better fit as a 5th starter (Sully's a much superior rebounder, progressing into a comparable defender, and offers a broader offensive skillset).

Makes sense to me.

you aren't going to land anybody much better than Bass only giving up him and picks it'd have to be Lee or Bradley thrown in and its not worth it, this big we land isn't going to put us over the top chemistry could get ugly and we can be even worse

Logged

"7ft PG. Rondo leaves and GUESS WHAT? We got a BIGGER point guard!"-Tommy on Olynyk

The logical suitor for Bass is a playoff team that sees Bass as an upgrade over either their starting PF or their first big off the bench and is willing to give up a younger, taller, more athletic underperforming big who they have given up on, but who Ainge thinks will blossom in Boston despite not matching the production level of Bass so far.

Does such a team exist?

Logged

"The worst thing that ever happened in sports was sports radio, and the internet is sports radio on steroids with lower IQs.” -- Brian Burke, former Toronto Maple Leafs senior adviser, at the 2013 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference

The logical suitor for Bass is a playoff team that sees Bass as an upgrade over either their starting PF or their first big off the bench and is willing to give up a younger, taller, more athletic underperforming big who they have given up on, but who Ainge thinks will blossom in Boston despite not matching the production level of Bass so far.

Does such a team exist?

Denver??

They've got TPE from Nene trade and Mozgov, who's not getting any playing time. I don't remember where I read it, but they're supposely looking to improve their spacing and are quite thin at PF spot (only Manimal and A.Randolph on their roster? Btw, is Faried a PF or SF?).I'm not sure they'd want Bass that much, but that could be a nice trade from Boston perspective. Get a better backup 5 and shed 3mil in salaries, so that we could chase some help with BAE...

I've got no other ideas.///edit:Actually, I just remembered, that during the Rockets-Lakers game this week, the broadcasters discussed Rockets need for upgrade in production at the 4 spot. But they should have a nice chunk of cap space next summer, so I doubt they would give it up on Bass. Secondly, it's not like they have any centers to spare.

The logical suitor for Bass is a playoff team that sees Bass as an upgrade over either their starting PF or their first big off the bench and is willing to give up a younger, taller, more athletic underperforming big who they have given up on, but who Ainge thinks will blossom in Boston despite not matching the production level of Bass so far.

Does such a team exist?

well based on that criteria, "a younger, taller, more athletic underperforming big" that would describe Dwight Howard. let's get that trade done!!

Sully makes Bass expendable and Camby gives this team EXACTLY what they need.

An over the hill center, who is never actually able to play because he is always hurt. Seems to fit the recent history of the team I suppose.

At least he plays and makes a difference. Camby 10 minutes a game sign me up. More of a sure thing than Oden supporters (even thought I would take a chance Oden as well.)

My point is he doesn't play, and left last game in a walking boot. He has played in 14 games this year. Yeah, its better than Oden, but to me, the argument isn't Oden vs. Camby.

The thing about Camby is that you will have to give up a rotation player to get him, and you would have to take on his contract which makes Jason Terry's look prudent. And you can't rely one bit on him being healthy when you need him, because his body is breaking down at an alarming rate.